


Cardcaptors Renewal

by Valentine20xx



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura
Genre: Alternate Clear Cards Arc, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Human Clow Cards, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-08-23 14:54:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20244676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentine20xx/pseuds/Valentine20xx
Summary: Omnious portents spell doom for Sakura and Syaoran's relationship, as members of the Li family work to control and undermine Sakura's authority as the Clow Mistress...Meanwhile, Sakura herself finds herself dealing with the Clow Cards appearing as young girls who see her as their mother, and her own strained relationship with Tomoyo...Can Sakura save her powers from those who wish to steal them?





	1. The Secret Room

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura © CLAMP, Distributed by Funimation/Crunchyroll. Card Captors © Nippon Ichi Software. No elements unique to the franchise belong to me, and this story is written within fair use guidelines. The Clow Children are my property, and elements related to them are copyrighted to myself.
> 
> Before I even start, I will make this very clear. This story was conceptualised long before the Clear Card Arc existed, and the only reason a version of the Blank Cards exist at all is to illustrate the effects of what is happening, and I always, from the earliest version of this concept, planned to use the form I do for the cards themselves. I have my own reasons for not using the Clear Cards verbatim, but will admit that a version of the Clear Cards will be used due to being an interesting slant on the card design.
> 
> I also wish to add, over the taking down of the original, There were a lot of mistakes made. For one, The Dream in the first chapter didn't fit with the rest of the narrative, due to being part of an earlier revision that hadn't been completely corrected. That has now been fixed as well as possible.

Sakura wondered why Tomoyo had called her to her home so soon after the last time. She wasn’t growing that much, so she didn’t need new measurements that quickly. As she entered Tomoyo’s room, Tomoyo herself was busy with some kind of security panel in one corner of the room. A brief look round and she realised a decorative wall freize had moved to be integrated with a different wall, revealing a seemingly bare wall. If she was right, the part of the house the wall opened out to was where her old ‘guest’ room had been.

"Ah, there you are, Sakura," Tomoyo declared as she stood up, "You might have noticed one or two bedrooms abruptly vanished. We had too many anyway..."

"It was curious, yes..." Sakura offered, with a nod, since Tomoyo's home naturally had more bedrooms than she'd ever need, "Did you outright move the furniture across from the guest room I used?"

"Maybe, but that’s not why we’re here. I moved the room to fit this area in. There is no other access, and the contractors were incredibly discreet. Partially since they come from Azabu-Juuban..." Tomoyo mused, "Don't know why, but that part of Minato has contractors who have non-disclosure agreements in place over things like this, but anyway..."

Sakura mused mentioning it seemingly was a magical girl mecca, with more magical girls operating there than anywhere else in Japan, so they _would_ have special clauses for magical girls, when she heard Tomoyo humming what was unmistakably Yoru no Uta as she tapped out the first few notes. The wall then slid aside, showing it was actually a hidden door. What Sakura found beyond was a walk in wardrobe of her costumes, both ones she'd worn and ones she'd noticed Tomoyo sketching out when she had nothing better to do, and she'd thought had never been made, with a rack of what were clearly DVDs across the opposite wall.

"This is quite literally the storeroom where I'm keeping all my side of your career," Tomoyo explained, "Ended up needing more space than I expected, partially since I actually made all the clothes I planned for you, just in case, and it was beginning to overflow..."

"And it's not exactly helping keep up the masquerade to keep things like this where any of our friends could find them..." Sakura agreed, frowning as she noticed that some of the costumes were missing and packed in boxes, "Why is some of it still packed up?"

“I’ll be moving into my own place soon, so this isn’t the final version of the room," Tomoyo admitted, "This is functional, but doesn't exactly have the needed space for if there's more to do with the cards. The location it will be long-term is already projected to be larger,"

Sakura knew what she meant. She could practically fill a large basement with a display area for the more neutral parts of Sakura’s wardrobe, and this was just a couple of bedrooms knocked through as a form of walk-in wardrobe. And even then, the space constraints were close to being exceeded. She almost wanted to offer Tomoyo reassurances that she'd not need to do anything more when she noticed the only item that was outright on display, not wanting to say any more.

The flowers were clearly made of cloth, but it was a gorgeous wedding kimono, just waiting for the day when Sakura and Syaoran's wedding happened, Tomoyo having clearly ensured that even the most important dress of Sakura's life would be a Daidouji original. When Tomoyo made that unspoken promise that she’d supply the wardrobe for all of Sakura’s future endeavours, she even made sure to mock up the one item Sakura would need _once._

"I consulted with your father and brother on it, and they approved the design," Tomoyo stated in explanation, "Annoyingly, last time I consulted with Syaoran about designing the counterpart he'd be wearing, he told me that he already had a designer picked for the clothes for the bride and the groom. I reminded him that I was Sakura's exclusive tailor, and he blocked my phone number..."

It was at that point Sakura winced. It was the latest in a long line of arguments that Tomoyo had got into between the Li family and herself. The first argument had come when talk of the wedding had come up, when no-one had witnessed their engagement. Even now, he'd not actually done so, citing that an engagement only happened when the wedding was imminent. And Sakura still had to finish middle school. So discussion of engagements and wedding dates got pushed aside, since it got nowhere slowly.

Other than that, every few weeks, she heard about a new argument about the wedding between Syaoran and Tomoyo, including that he'd wanted to do it in China, and now she heard that he’d cut her friend out of the wedding arrangements entirely, despite her very true statement. The fact he'd not even wanted to use the kimono Tomoyo had put so much effort into made her quietly be thankful that she wasn't engaged to Syaoran. He'd not consulted with her once about any of the things Tomoyo had brought up, and he'd assured her that she would be happy with the decisions he made.

Right now, however, she had some doubts about if she would be happy. A relationship was about full disclosure, and she was beginning to feel like she was being lead about by Syaoran and told what she wanted to hear. Meanwhile, the people who weren’t as clueless were being told that ‘Sakura had approved…’ or ‘Sakura said…’, when she’d done nothing of the sort.

A few days later, Sakura was sat in one of her personal discussions with Syaoran. “What’s wrong, Sakura?” Syaoran had just asked, “You look troubled...”

“Tomoyo was showing me her clothing collection that she’d done, including some designs she hadn’t got to use before the cards were just secured in a safe place…” Sakura half-mused, “She showed me a gorgeous wedding kimono, one that I could say is my dream wedding attire, told me the Japanese side of the equation was all for it, while the Chinese?… She’s my friend, and practically everything short of the Tomoeda School uniforms come out of her sketchbook...”

"I found one of the best designers in either here or China..." Syaoran stated, "Why should I rely on Tomoyo's design, when she refused to let me see it? She consulted with your family, but I was not invited to this consultation..."

"When you were asked for your own opinions, you blocked her number..." Sakura retorted, "Who says she didn't plan to consult with you on it at that time? She can’t consult with you, so she’s had to have me consult with you,"  
Sakura placed a slender folder in front of him, and he opened it, looking over at the pictures and artist's renditions within. Syaoran then called a phone number, and spoke to the person on the other end of the line in Chinese, a name, 'Muzhiben Ying', coming up several times.

"I think we can reach an arrangement," Syaoran stated, “You are right, this is a very good design. It’s not quite what I was looking at, but we can reach an amicable compromise, I’m sure...”

"Who is Muzhiben Ying?" Sakura asked, for Syaoran to wave her off. It was only later that she realised the Japanese character for ‘Sakura’ and the chinese character for ‘Ying’ were the same.

"I have to get this folder to the designer, I will get Tomoyo their contact details, and mail her the designs he'd done," Syaoran stated, brushing off her question, "I will state that it is a better design than I expected..."

Sakura hoped that, the next time she visited Tomoyo, it would be with mutual good news. Instead, Tomoyo’s storeroom was even more packed up, and, when asked about the wedding kimono, she scowled and stated it was still here, and ‘wouldn’t be used’.

“What do you mean?” Sakura asked, “Syaoran said he could make a compromise...”

"He did nothing of the sort… 'Most of the design will be retained'… That's what his designer told me after we finished a few hours of talking through his interpreter," Tomoyo stated, "His design was horrid and reeked of subservience, Syaoran's wedding attire emphasizing that you were marrying into his clan, not that you were marrying him..."

Sakura looked at the artist’s rendition she tossed at her in anger, having not yet seen the design roughs. Syaoran had waved her off, with her assuming Tomoyo was in the consultation. Syaoran was in a very formal, very richly patterned wedding kimono, akin to someone like Cao Cao, while Sakura's was plain white, suggestive of something more, but not managing it, and heavily overpowered by Syaoran's, giving the impression she was a wedding of convenience rather than of equals.

“They claimed that the plain design was in order to better highlight Syaoran’s outfit, but I feel there was something else to it,” Tomoyo snapped, "I strongly suspect the reason why my design will be joining the racks of unused outfits is simply this. Syaoran would show you the first picture, maybe cherry pick some of my lines to transplant onto it,"

She gave her an artist's rendition of something. While Syaoran was in the same overdone kimono, Sakura, in Tomoyo's design, still drew the eye in just the right ways, and actually looked like she was, while not his equal, more than just some girl he picked up off the street. A few lines of chinese were written under it.

"Draws the focus too much. A simplified design was approved by the family, designer barely knows what she is doing," Tomoyo translated, before adding, "That last part is the worst part, and clearly shows what they really think. Everything's being organized through faceless figures in China, and not by anyone here. Sakura, I don't like it, I don't like it at all..."

“So, you’re thinking they are planning to use the plain one, rather than even a simplified version of your own?” Sakura stated, Tomoyo nodding.

“I suspect ‘the family’ refers to the Li clan, rather than your family...” Tomoyo replied, “Look, Things are moving way too fast, and I’m worried about you. Something’s going to break before long, and I wouldn’t want it to be you...”

That evening, Sakura sighed, looking round her room. She could understand why Tomoyo kept her costume collection in a room that was quite literally inaccessible outside of a hidden door. This was just the latest in a series of disputes. She collapsed on her bed. The romanticism had been sucked out of her relationship with Syaoran recently, and he was, right now outright rejecting Tomoyo’s ideas in favour of yet another aspect of the wedding moving behind closed doors, with the opinions of her family and herself ignored.

“Why do I feel _thankful_ he’s not put a ring on my finger yet?” She mused, moving what looked like a heavy closet aside. Just talking with Tomoyo made her do this, as she slid the wall aside and took out her phone. Locating what was supposedly Tomoyo’s phone number, she input the number into the safe that had been revealed, opening it to reveal a case, inside which was a set of her Keys from when she was actively acting as the Clow Mistress, and the firmly locked Sakura Book.

Confirming that no-one had sneaked into her room and stole them, she closed and locked the safe, replacing the ‘phone number’ with the new security code. She didn’t actually know Tomoyo’s phone number, since it used it’s own special key on her phone. Anyone looking in the room would need to know where the closet was in the first place. The safe had been installed after an ominous warning that had come to her, about a very real threat to Sakura's magic being stolen, and Tomoyo's insistence that she'd got a safe and hid it securely.

In the end, Tomoyo had bought the safe, which had been purchased supposedly to replace one in her mother's company, and had got it installed personally. She claimed, more honestly, to Sakura, that it was since she was terrible for remembering. She sighed, considering why Tomoyo had to make up reasons for them to meet.

During a recent planning meeting with Syaoran, she’d accepted a scholarship program, that would see her likely finishing her schooling in Hong Kong, and attending college there. Tomoyo had snapped at her that she already had made plans with their respective parents beforehand. Sakura's expected question about why she'd not been asked didn't get an answer she liked....

Tomoyo had bluntly told her that she'd called her to set up a discussion about it, Syaoran had answered the call and told her she was too busy. Later, she checked when Syaoran had offered the scholarship program. It was literally days after Tomoyo first called. It was almost like it had been taken out categorically to spite Tomoyo.

Her worst day had been when she had her last, to date, appointment to help her practice her inherited magical powers, learning to cast magic without the use of the Clow as a medium, something Eriol had offered might be needed in the future. Tomoyo had been attending those same classes out of common courtesy, due to the fact she was one of the few mundane people who was in on the masquerade...

_"Look, Tomoyo, What is your problem with Syaoran?" Sakura had snapped, "Is it over the fact I never have time for you since I'm busy with some task for him?"_

_"Sakura, Need I remind you your precious Syaoran was originally using his family magic to attempt to claim control of the Clow, and has, numerous times, made accusations that Clow's magic should always have been given to the Li clan from the start?!" Tomoyo had retorted, Eriol nodding, "He LOST the worthiness trial, He has no right to dictate the future of the Clow… But you, by proxy, are letting him!"_

_"Tomoyo! You are out of line!" Sakura had angrily growled, not noticing that Clow Reed's successor was in agreement with Tomoyo's words, or that her 'accusations' were mostly completely true, and based on known facts, "Explain your accusations!"_

_"By the time you've left college, you'll be taking a Chinese name..." Tomoyo began, for Sakura to wince, "We'll talk about that another time. Anyway, You'll be as Chinese as the Li clan, and when Syaoran pops the question, It'll be a formality, since you'll have pretty much handed the Clow right to them! You'll be using ofuda and incantations, not cards!"_

_"I am not going to be going there to conform to their system, or anything like that!" Sakura had tried, "Tomoyo, I'm… I'm not sure if we can continue to be friends..."_

_"Sakura, I have one last piece of advice for you..." Eriol had said, "Keep lying to yourself like this, and maybe, just maybe, you'll manage to get others to believe it as much as you. If you keep going like this, you will lose everything..."_

Mizuki and Eriol had stopped inviting her over at that point, and Tomoyo’s visits became weekly diatribes where Tomoyo vented while doing what she needed to do. She then collapsed against the wall, her head in her hands as she realised exactly what she’d not even noticed. She might as well call someone to pick up the safe for someone who’d actually use it properly. She was going through all this work to stop someone stealing the Clow…

...and she was practicallly handing it to the ‘clan of thieves’, as Eriol had put it once, that was the Li family, presenting it to them on a silver platter, as Kinomoto Sakura became Li Ying, and discreetly guided into their magic system. Tomoyo had been right. She deserved the plain kimono right now, since everything about what she was about to do… She’d not decided any of it.

She suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to call Tomoyo, to ask her to set up an appointment to organize the signing of the paperwork for that scholarship she'd likely organized, ever being ahead of Sakura on the difficult things, to organize a heartfelt apology for both her and Eriol, to start over afresh, Muzhiben Ying consigned to history. She got her Sakura Phone out, hitting the key that made a call to Tomoyo’s phone, hearing the set of computer beeps that were instead of dial tones, for there to be a long pause. She then frowned.

'This number has not been recognised. Please check and try again.' The phone dictated to her after a minute, Sakura frowning. The number was unlisted and only one phone could, strictly speaking, call it, since the way it dialled didn’t show the number on this or the phone it was connecting to. Tomoyo wouldn't get rid of her direct line to Sakura, even with what was said. She opened a nearby drawer, taking out her backup mobile phone. She then looked through the phone book, to find none of her contacts were there.

It was at that point Sakura found the 'Sakura Phone' had vanished, and the closet she'd so recently moved was back in it's original place. She headed to the wall, knocking on it and finding it was as if she'd never got the safe...

She then noticed something about the text on the screen of the phone. The phone's language setting was Chinese, and the company who made it was also Chinese...

Sakura then snapped awake, realising that entire thing had been a dream... almost a last warning. Something wasn't right with her relationship, and she had to fix it, urgently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a note, What is meant by a 'chinese brand' is something like Huawei or Xiaomi, rather than Lenovo/Motorola, Samsung or Sony. I am patently aware that 95% of technology is made in China.


	2. Who Is Muzhiben Ying?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura and Tomoyo now find themselves discussing their dreams, as they try to figure out what exactly was going on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, everything from when Sakura went to open the wall safe onwards was a 'gift' from Dream, with the reason it seemed confusing and had weird issues with tenses being since it was a dream. Now, we have the real follow-up to when Sakura found out Syaoran didn't accept Tomoyo's design...

Sakura put on a slight smile as she heard the cheery sounds of 'Catch You Catch Me', the Sakura Phone's ringtone, Sakura picking it up, resisting the urge to hug the keepsake phone happily as she answered with a cheerful, but likely very strained 'Moshi Moshi' to the sound of Tomoyo's voice telling her 'Good Morning'…  
"So, What was your bad dream about?" Tomoyo asked immediately.  
"Why do you ask?" Sakura asked, noticing Tomoyo's tone was not exactly cheerful either. Neither of them had slept well, not helped by the strain beginning in their friendship, which the dream suggested had outright fallen apart in the near future, due to Sakura's choices of following Syaoran's lead.  
"I had this really surreal dream… You know how dreams normally are real time?" Tomoyo offered, "Well, Most people's dreams are, you..."  
"Yeah… Half my dreams seem to be snatches of events set in a longer period, or portray a possible future..." Sakura stated, "I keep a record of all my dreams, especially if I can remember them..."  
Sakura was already writing down her own dream, including about the date she saw on the phone at the end, having got very good at writing down enough to give a full record later. She frowned at the fact the date wasn’t that far into the future. A second sheet was prepared for Tomoyo's dream, because it didn't seem accidental they both had weird dreams...  
Clearly, Dream hadn't just visited Sakura that evening. Vivid dreams that didn't take place over an eight-hour period maximum didn't just happen after all.  
"My dream was in a similar vein…" Tomoyo stated, "I was working on some designs, finalizing some things, Must have got Syaoran's ear even harder than last time… Some of the design work I got down, but not all of them… Weird to be the one getting a vivid dream for a change..."  
"I'll be sure to come over and look at the ones you do remember..." Sakura replied, noting down that Tomoyo's dream was following up on the wedding kimono situation, and that she'd look at getting some of the designs, "But continue..."  
"Some of the ones I don't remember were modified from sketches I was working with a semi-anonymous source on, Muzhiben Ying..." Tomoyo began, Sakura hearing the blood rushing to her ears as the phone fell to the floor with an oddly dull thud. Tomoyo had not really used that name. She never thought she'd ever hear Tomoyo state that name. Tomoyo had just used that infernal name, the one Sakura wanted to forget ever got brought up… The kanji letters for her name, spoken chinese-style.  
"Sakura! What happened?" Tomoyo's voice cut through the pounding, and she composed herself, picking back up the phone, Sakura composing herself, pretending she hadn't got a red pen out and wrote, 'Some sketches provided by...', pausing only to get out her travel visa and copy out the letters on it, before underlining them.  
"Nothing, Nothing… So, Ying was sharing the improved wedding dress designs with you?" Sakura continued, keeping her fear out of her voice.  
"The first few were moving away from that horrid plain thing he first suggested, then the designs shifted the other way, and those I don't want to remember… They were all chinese-themed..." Tomoyo offered, "Still, The sketches became a lot less stylised, and changed to what were clearly wedding planners, as my own surroundings changed..."  
"Oh?" Sakura asked, "Why did your surroundings change? Something happen?"  
"I was going to tell you when we next met. It's about why I've wanted to speak to you recently. My mother and your father finalized details for a scholarship program for the new university they're setting up, the one with student housing?" Tomoyo stated, "I have your paperwork right here with me… Just waiting for your signature..."

Sakura almost choked. Tomoyo had just said it, outright, plain as day, she'd organized for them to, after they finished at Tomoeda High, to be going to the new local university, and Sakura had, callously, in the dream, not made this call, had been too busy as 'Ying', so had never signed that paperwork, and Tomoyo would have gone alone.  
"Going back to the dream, I got a very weird e-mail after I'd been living there for a while. Before you ask, No, Sakura, It only focused on the artworks I was doing, I didn't get much of a look at things like diplomas or similar..." Tomoyo replied, Sakura chuckling, "Can show you what classes I'll be taking, that's in the paperwork,"  
"So, the e-mail?" Sakura asked.  
"The email was rather blunt, and stated, 'Lady Ying was offended by your most recent correspondence and your e-mail address has been blocked from contacting her'… Those exact words, even though the changes I'd offered were all accepted by her last I knew..." Tomoyo continued.  
"Oh… Oh dear..." Sakura stated. She thought about the Sakura who was from her own dream, who had fallen out with Tomoyo over her becoming Li Ying so easily. But even then, she'd not be so cold and impersonal. It was actually written in the third person, which was curious.  
She found herself writing down 'Almost like she hadn't even written it, and one of the Li clan had done it for her, having noticed Tomoyo's e-mail in the header', before she could stop herself, both dreams aligning in a worrying way. The omens were far too similar.  
"The dream started acting weirdly, like it was scared of the last part… Considering who likely sent the dream to me, I can understand why," Tomoyo finished, "A police officer arrived at my house… since they needed me to identify a body… Y-Y-Your body…"  
Sakura knew that it was likely Dream who sent the portents. Both of them. She was so sure due to this. Dream had been reluctant to send the last part because it was quite literally the worst thing she’d probably ever had to channel. The death of her Mistress. Sakura felt her dream was far less important. It was more a warning, preparing her to hear this one.  
To hear Tomoyo tell her that, from her viewpoint, after Sakura accepted becoming Li Ying, she'd be given a peasant's wedding, enough magical education to complete the transfer ritual, then end up washing up on the shores of Japan.  
"Tomoyo, You never heard the name 'Muzhiben Ying' before now, right?" Sakura asked, her fear about the name masked very well by her horror at what Tomoyo had 'witnessed'.  
"I just assumed it was one of the wedding planners, but the email's way of naming her as 'Lady Ying' confused me..." Tomoyo mused, "Why? Can you get me in touch with her?"  
“Syaoran uses it all the time… You know how we use Syaoran instead of Xiaolan?” Sakura stated, her voice shaking, “Within China… The kanji for Kinomoto translate directly into the letters for Muzhiben. My new passport uses that version.”  
Now it was her turn to hear the phone hit the floor, Tomoyo coming back on a few moments later. "Your new passport? What happened to your old one?!" Tomoyo asked, her voice clearly cracking now, as she realised her dream self had been constantly corresponding with her friend, and the reason the last message had been so impersonal…  
...was the fact that Sakura might well have been pulled away from the computer and potentially been dragged off to be imprisoned or put to death. Sakura herself had written, in her notes, 'Clow likely lost before the last e-mail sent out. Possibly I was planning to tell Tomoyo about it when I was caught...'  
"We'd been using a lantern while looking over some of my travel paperwork, I felt it was cute until it got knocked over, badly burned my passport and some of the other papers," Sakura admitted sheepishly, thinking back, "It was probably the same time as you met with my father over the scholarship. We decided after that it was better to use electric lighting when doing important business..."  
"And I bet it was got at short notice and great expense?" Tomoyo began, pausing before explaining, "Well, I first called you about the meeting a month ago, and it takes a few weeks to process passports..."  
"Very short notice, he waved off the expense… He had it with me within a couple of days, with a profuse apology for what had happened." Sakura tried, finding that she was having problems warranting everything that had happened with Syaoran in the last few months, seeing it through the filter of these dreams. Both of them were suggesting she question her interactions with the Li family, and the answers were all bad.  
"And it likely was a Chinese or Hong Kong passport with Muzhiben Ying under Name, and you likely use it or your travel visa for copying out your own name, since normally we use Hirigana or Katakana for writing our names..." Tomoyo offered, Sakura feeling sheepish, "Sakura, He did it on purpose, on his clan's orders..."  
“Tomoyo...” Sakura began, her statement dying on her lips. She then stopped, horror crossing her face as she thought about the, never to actually happen, incident in Eriol's house where she'd done much the same thing. She was about to make the same mistake, trusting Syaoran over her longer term friend, using her heart not her head.  
"You said it, not me… I'd suggest you bin it, destroy it with Firey..." Tomoyo stated, "I'll go get you a wall safe, as well as a proper Japanese passpor-"  
Sakura felt the world narrow down as she looked at the first part of the dream, where she was putting the Sakura Book and Wand into a wall safe Tomoyo supplied, and the very recent date she’d put on the other piece of paper. The wall safe _Tomoyo just stated she’d be getting._

"Sakura!" Tomoyo snapped, startling her at the loud noise, "That's twice you've zoned out..."  
"Sorry… It's just, one of the points in my dream was that I was putting the Sakura Book into a wall safe, because of claims you'd made about 'someone' stealing my power..." Sakura stated, "The rest of the dream had me recently get into an argument with you about me turning into, well, Li Ying and Eriol blacklisted me for not listening to good counsel… I then abruptly found the safe vanish, along with the Sakura Phone, and I had a Chinese smartphone instead of it..."  
"And here's me actually suggesting, in the present, to get that safe because of the threat you are to your own power right now… Literally proving the dream was an urgent warning, not just a distant possibility," Tomoyo stated thoughtfully, Sakura sighing, deciding to think about something more recent, not wanting to discuss either dream for a moment.  
“I think I know why it was Eriol who was giving the counsel, not Keroberos...” Sakura mused, “Well, think about what Syaoran suggested a few months back, when we started having these problems with his actions...”  
“Keroberos was sent to live with me, since Syaoran stated...” Tomoyo began.  
“That his goofing around wouldn’t look good in front of our families...” Sakura interrupted, before sighing and stating, “My family is also my secret keepers, since Yukito began dating my brother, they don’t care about Kero raiding the fridge or similar. He was not really thinking about my family, Keroberos probably would be advising me against all the things I've done recently… and the Dream was letting me know that I was very close to causing the dream to be unavoidable..."  
"OK, Well, Let's forget about the dream..." Tomoyo offered, "Well, the bad parts… Come over later, and we'll get that prospectus sorted..."  
"Let's..." Sakura stated, "I can't do it straight away… I have some things I need to do..."

She then hung up, and paused as she looked at one of the items she'd filled out with Syaoran helping her with the wording. The paperwork for her education in Hong Kong. She picked it up, placing her chinese passport on top of it, along with a set of books Syaoran had got her to learn Chinese. She didn't want to double-check what she'd actually written, just destroy it, eliminate all remains of what Syaoran's family was turning her into, a thief and a liar.  
"Goodbyte, Muzhiben Ying..." She declared, as the power of Firey came without a second thought, and she suddenly felt a lot more relaxed as she prepared to go pick up Keroberos and reverse some very bad decisions. Within the Clow Book, the Nameless Card repaired, it's image no longer clear, but it was steady once more.  
Just in that one act, she'd returned to the correct path. If she could persuade Syaoran of the radical nature of what his family were planning, she could still have a traditional Japanese wedding with him, and become Li Sakura, but Li Ying was gone.

In a distant room, an aged woman scowled as she noticed some magical traces go dark. The items that Xiaolan had been given were steeped in family magic, influencing the thoughts of both Xiaolan and Ying.  
“Contact Xiaolan!” She declared firmly, for a brazier to light up with his image, “The items I acquired for Ying have been damaged in such a way that it implies you lost control over her free-spirited nature...”  
"I am not happy with how you want me to go about courting Sakura..." He stated, the woman scoffing at his disrespect.  
"This is not about courtship, this is correcting a wrong that man did to our clan long ago," The woman snapped, "Yes, she is pretty, and if she behaves herself, and you do indeed have feelings for her, and vice versa, I'll accept your union… but only once the power of those cards are family magic!"  
"But... Influencing her mind with charmed items?! Taking away her very identity?!" He snapped, sighing as he offered, “If it wasn’t for you and the other elders, I’d have been sat with Sakura’s family, approving that very nice dress Tomoyo designed...” He continued, “Instead, I have to pretend to like that ugly travesty...”  
"Well, We would not need to be so overt with the legacy of Clow if you hadn't screwed up in the first place!" The woman growled, "How could you, someone raised from birth to wield his power as your own, fail at the final judgement?! You lost even those cards you had claimed dominion over!"  
She then took out a small stone, crushing it and beginning a spell, Xiaolan’s eyes going cloudy for a moment. "I understand, Elder," Syaoran stated, "I will find out why the 'gifts' I gave her got damaged, and get back to you for replacements..."  
"You do so. She's likely interacting with that girl again, who feels Ying is equal to the Li clan," The Elder snapped, "We were displeased when you even suggested we use her design!"  
The brazier then went out, relighting a few moments later without Syaoran's image in it. The Clow would be returned to the Li Clan, it had been ordained. Then the Clow Mistress...  
They didn't need to keep a foreign peasant girl around. She was getting annoyed with how much she'd had to put pressure on Syaoran, but he'd made far too many mistakes. After the failed judgement, it had been decided. He would not decide how they would acquire the Clow. They would.

At the same time, Tomoyo looked over the prospectus, thankful for the dreams bending her back towards taking sensible counsel, from people like her, instead of the Li clan, who had become increasingly untrustworthy. It had been filled out with the help of Sakura's family, the list of courses closely mirroring the one she herself had filled out, with the scholarship fees budgeted out in plain terms. She would present it to Sakura when she came to go back to being the Clow Mistress, rather than some Chinese knock-off, and if things worked out, it would be filed by the end of the day.  
What Sakura didn't know was that the scholarship which got the housing near the school was very limited, with Tomoyo pretty much guaranteed a place, but Sakura's scholarship was pitched by her mother, and they were sharing the same place. Tomoyo knew it was not something to hope for too much, but, if things worked out, they'd be leaving college a couple, a very expensive trip to a receptive priest dealing with the legal repercussions of the fact, and the Clow would be staying with Sakura for the rest of her life, a life she would share with Tomoyo.  
She took out a pencil outline of the room, and thought about what she'd seen in the dream, finishing off some of the details, but the bedroom remained incomplete. She wasn't quite sure if she could put the queen-size bed she wanted to yet. What didn't help was that the home she'd had in the dream had been a single bed home, and the large wardrobe area, designed for Sakura's comprehensive outfit collection, wasn't present, the space being somewhere she'd not gone into, nor was a particularly annoying part of the plan that she'd not yet been able to assign anything to.  
Why she needed a second large room adjoining their bedrooms, she didn't know. She did know something that confused her about the room. She'd gone past the door once during the dream to find it open, and found, of all things, a music stand on it, the next time she passed it, the door being closed. She'd also found music sheets mixed in with her sketches in the dream. Why was there so many references to music in her dream?!  
"Wonder if she did destroy the passport?" Tomoyo mused, as she heard the doorbell, thoughts about the mystery room forgotten as she began humming to herself a tune that she could remember from the dream.

A short time later, she was showing Sakura the designs from her dream, and Sakura had looked over the prospectus, signing where Tomoyo had offered. She noticed that Sakura was holding a notebook where she had been writing out her name in hiragana repeatedly. Chinese was almost completely kanji, and she likely was having trouble going back to pure Japanese.  
"I'll be having problems with writing with kanji for a long time..." Sakura confirmed with a sigh, "Li had me switch over to using it exclusively… Thankfully, a lot of letters mean the same in either language,"  
Tomoyo distracted her with the sketchbook where she'd put the sketches. "These are really good designs," Sakura offered, putting the book down, "I can understand why I liked them… I still do..."  
"Well, The perfect design will always compliment..." She began, suddenly being distracted when Keroberos flew in holding what appeared to be a piece of rectangular glass of a worrying size, Sakura accepting it before he dropped it. When it glowed pink, she almost dropped it on the floor in shock.  
"Sakura, It's terrible! We have a crisis!" He wailed, “The Clow… It’s… It’s...”  
Both of them looked at each other. This was more important than the sketches from the dream. This was exactly _why_ the dream had happened, and was definitely not a dream. If anything, it was a waking nightmare...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I did just change the pairing to Sakura/Tomoyo, since it's hard to claim otherwise with the implications in this chapter. Obviously, the room that was erased by Sakura not taking the scholarship was where the secret room's contents will end up.
> 
> In the alternate timeline, Tomoyo sold off most of the clothes she'd made Sakura, the rest being used by her adoptive daughter.


	3. 夜の歌＆歌...の歌？！？ The Song Of Night And The Song... Of Song?!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a particularly long entry.
> 
> I do not hate Syaoran, but I do feel that it's hypocrisy born of Japan's laws, which pretend to have matured, but have done anything but, which meant Sakura, throughout the Clear Card arc, is planning to practically hand the Clow to the Li family through marriage, despite the fact Syaoran categorically _**lost**_ the Judgement, meaning Sakura has every right to it, but his clan doesn't.
> 
> Even now, Tomoyo, in the modern world, would be seen as immature for being a lesbian, while Sakura is mature for falling for Syaoran. I hate how maturity is based on whether or not a girl has spread her legs for a man, and that it's immature and wrong for her to choose a girl as her lover, while a man can choose who the hell he damn well wants.
> 
> I adore series like Madoka Magica, where there's no male leads whatsoever, and the series continually reminds us Kyoko and Sayaka were together, and Flip Flappers, which has Cocona find her maturity by admitting she is a lesbian, not by discarding that part of herself.
> 
> So, I will admit now that the story is going to follow the latter path, where Sakura's situation will improve by accepting Tomoyo's advances are less than platonic, while accepting her society-dictated 'maturity' will just result in heartbreak.
> 
> Now, onto the chapter. There's a completely honest reason the title is written as it is. Well, Song… is about to _literally_ find her song.

Sakura and Tomoyo went with Kero to look at what he’d found. Sakura noticed that he’d opened up the Sakura Book, with several completely transparent cards spilling out, more like sheets of glass than cards, a faded image visible just about, Sakura frantic as she looked through them.

"What the? What's wrong? Why are they all like this?" Sakura asked, finding no signs of the usual rush of power she got from holding one of the Sakura Cards, and even when she picked up the one which did have an image, albeit faint, almost like a smoked glass image than the original vibrant image… Song. Tomoyo knew why that was the only card that was intact. It was not one of Sakura's cards. If Tomoyo was able to use magic and capture cards, it would always go to her, however much Syaoran or Sakura tried to waylay it.

That's why it was holding on for dear life. Song was practically screaming for Tomoyo to save her from whatever was destroying the cards.

"I think I know why Syaoran's family wanted to rush through the paperwork, and were preparing to ship you to China before you'd even finished school..." Tomoyo stated, as she picked up one of the other cards, not wanting to know what would happen if she took hold of Song, "Because, right now, the Clow Cards are powerless… You breached the terms of the Judgement, so your powers are forfeit,"

"She's probably right..." Keroberos stated, "Think of a card, and try to channel it's power..."

For a brief period, one of the cards glowed pink as Sakura created a brief shower of bubbles, nowhere near the epic levels of magical power she used so frivolously when capturing a card. Sakura was practically powerless right now, but there was a small amount of power left in the cards. Notably, the card which glowed developed a crack, and Sakura herself looked strained. Tomoyo and Keroberos both looked worried. If Sakura used the cards as she had, She'd probably shatter them, and leave herself outright powerless.

"Did you open the Clow Book recently?" Keroberos asked, Sakura shaking her head, blinking as she focused herself.

"I don't open it to use my magic, and I haven't used any of the cards in over a week… Urgh, Kero, Why do I feel so dizzy? I normally can do that easily, but..." Sakura stated.

“Your magic is weakening...” Kero mused, “With the state the cards are in, You’re practically back to the beginning. They obey you, but, since you were busy catering to Syaoran’s whims, You didn’t use your magic, so didn’t realise your power’s almost spent keeping what’s now an excessive number of cards just functional...”

He paused, looking at her gravely. “The next time you tried to capture a card with them like this, might well have been your last...”

"So, How can we restore them?" Sakura stated, holding up the Song card, "We can't exactly sing to them to get their power back..."

Kero looked towards Tomoyo for a second when he noticed which card _wasn’t_ blank, before continuing. "The spirits have been reborn in new vessels. Bring them together, and you'll be able to restore the Clow," Kero declared, "But, if you continue as you are… The cards will shatter, and we'll have a real crisis…”

“How so?” Tomoyo asked, not liking thinking of Song in distress like that.

“Renewals that go wrong are messy. The Clow is effectively dead until a new Master is found, and the Clow Master… or Mistress ends up anathema to magic. It will no longer obey them, EVER," Kero offered, “The Judgement you won… It won’t matter, Everything you did will unhappen...”

“So, she’ll forget everything?” Tomoyo asked.

“If the Clow is ‘nice’ over what happens, she’ll wake up a few years ago, on a certain day, and a whole lot of nothing will happen,” Kero offered, “That is the nicest way it can go. Effectively, I go back to sleep, the book is misplaced in a museum somewhere, or an explorer’s collection, and Sakura will have never found it. Everything will be erased,”

“And if it isn’t?” Tomoyo asked.

“She’ll wake up the day after the Clow died without Touya, without you, without anyone, with total amnesia...” Kero offered, “Everyone who knew her will forget her, and she will be left alone, effectively dead. It was heartbreaking when that happened,”

"So, if someone was to take her power from her, while the Clow is unstable..." Tomoyo asked, feigning curiosity.

"It would save the Clow, yes… but whoever claimed the power would be able to sculpt the form of the Clow, and the original bearer would still lose any ability to use magic, since they still lost the Clow..." Kero mused, "Why do you ask?"

Sakura had gone pale. That's why Tomoyo dreamt of her being put to death. They claimed the unstable Clow, then killed her to dispose of someone who couldn't ever use magic. Tomoyo picked up a sketchbook, suddenly drawing something on the page it was open to.

"That's what is in that space..." Tomoyo declared, "The new Clow..."

Sakura looked to see it was a floor plan for a house, probably the housing that would be granted to the students for the university, noticing a room with two single beds, Tomoyo having put the characters for her name and Sakura's above them, and a larger room was nearby, which had just two words on it, 'Clow Spirits'.

"The new cards will be Sakura's cards. She'll probably keep most of the arcana intact, but..." Keroberos half-stated, half-mused, "How they'll manifest will depend on how she creates them and even who she created them with,"

Tomoyo nodded, and they were about to get back to the information from the dream when a haunting melody interrupted them, Sakura humming along to the tune, finding she recognised it. The singer was pretty good too.

"Yoru no sora ni matataku..." Tomoyo mumbled to herself, before freezing, and jolting Sakura, "You're humming Yoru no Uta!"

They both listened, Tomoyo nodding to herself. It was definitely her song, that she’d granted one person, and one person alone.

They rushed downstairs, seeing what looked like a younger version of Tomoyo, except with green eyes, munching on a toffee apple sculpted into the shape of Keroberos, then silently cursing and starting the song again. Tomoyo smirked, moving to stand nearby, and began to hum along to the song herself, intimately familiar with the melody. She’d composed it after all.

"Yoru no sora ni matataku, Tooi kin no hoshi… Yuube yume de miageta, Kotori to onaji iro..." The girl began to sing in tune with Tomoyo's humming, Sakura moving to stand the opposite side to Tomoyo, taking the toffee apple as Tomoyo lead the girl up to her room. Where there had been a nearly transparent card showing the long-haired singer of the original design, it now was a full colour image, which showed the young girl stood back to back with Tomoyo when she first sang the song.

"Song, do you like singing that song?" Tomoyo asked, looking at her, for her to nod, "You can keep it. But stop singing like when I was younger..."

Song then looked towards Sakura, and screwed up her face as if trying to say something, Tomoyo noticing the card begin to vibrate, the image flickering as the image of Tomoyo changed between her younger self and her present day self, as Aria’s perception of Tomoyo changed, no longer seeing her as she was back then, but seeing her as she was _now_.

"What's wrong, Aria?" Sakura asked, suddenly, feeling a strange feeling upon seeing her struggle. She shouldn't be having problems with that song. Tomoyo had taught her it so well...

Eriol looked up in alarm as he felt something tear at his very being. He knew Sakura had forced a Renewal, by rejecting His Judgement, but this was stronger than the feeling that was caused by a simple Renewal. This was rewriting the very concept of one of the cards.

"What's happening?!" He asked, looking towards a suddenly cat-smiling Mizuki.

"Song wants to vocalise something, but Tomoyo never gave her the words..." Mizuki stated, smirking.

"Song wants to vocalise…" Eriol stated, " Mizuki, Song can't speak, she can only sing! I never gave her a voice! She'll always be Song, singing whatever song takes her fancy..."

Something then seemed to pop, and Mizuki smirked.

"Oh, did you?" Mizuki stated, "Maybe Song can't speak. But she isn't Song, is she? She’s Tomoyo’s daughter, Aria..."

At that same moment, 'Aria' began moving her mouth oddly, frowning a bit, before she asked, in a voice mostly based on a younger Tomoyo, but with traces of Sakura’s, "Umm, but, but... How am I meant to sing it?"

"Be yourself, Aria… You have a voice now, so use it..." Sakura stated, then blinked after a moment, and beckoned to Tomoyo as she stepped out of the room.

"Why did I just say that?" Sakura asked, "I just felt that her name was Aria, and that she's always had problems finding the right words for me, except when singing..."

"As 'The Song', it was just a mimic, a facsimile..." Tomoyo stated, thinking to herself, "But I gave her a song, and you gave her a voice…"

Both of them then felt the world swim, then they found themselves in the house from the sketch, the music stand Tomoyo had seen now being used by Aria, who was doing scales, slightly unevenly, but they could tell it was her own version of the scales. They walked back in as the newly named Aria sung her own version of Yoru no Uta, Tomoyo slipping the card into her pocket discreetly as she read what had replaced Song… 'Aria Daidouji', the image of Tomoyo no longer a child, and it never would be again. The card now was depicting Aria with her _mother._

Tomoyo thought back to her dream. The music sheets, the music stand. Even in the other timeline, Aria had found her, and the room… had been her bedroom and music room. When Sakura abandoned the Clow, she adopted the girl, and raised her as her own, with likely her form being outright Tomoyo. She was not Song, she had stopped being that probably years ago. She was her daughter, Aria. Her beautiful beautiful daughter...

"I think we need to go shopping..." Tomoyo hissed as she broke out of her daydream, pointing to the candied apple bear Sakura handed back to Aria.

"You did great, Aria. Now, You enjoy that while I go pick up one of your sisters..." Sakura stated loudly. She now knew what that room was likely going to look like in reality. A group of girls sat around doing their various talents, within a few feet of her and Tomoyo, any accidents quickly dealt with using soothing words. Her future was not going to be one of death by the loss of her magic. She could see a thick binder of clothes designs, Tomoyo worked off her feet to make sure all the card spirits had something nice to wear when they went out, and a set of gifts that never stopped giving to their mother.

As she looked, several cards regained their images, albeit monochrome, smoked glass images, as she came to accept that the Renewal would be anything but an unhappy situation. But less about that. She had a second daughter to remember, and a second spirit to restore...

She didn't think about why Tomoyo featured so prominently on Aria's card, and in her future...

In fact, as she looked at Tomoyo alongside her, she decided that was exactly where Aria wanted to be somehow. But she was Sakura’s daughter… Wasn’t she?

So why did she look like Tomoyo still?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the alternate timeline, as you can guess, Aria's room was in that space, and she was spoiled rotten as Tomoyo's daughter, making up for the fact Tomoyo lost Sakura, by her doting on the one thing she had left from her.


	4. Chapter 4

In a local candy store, Sakura and Tomoyo waited in line, Aria between them, Sakura clearly not noticing the image they created between them, helped by how close Aria’s appearance mirrored Tomoyo. When they got to the counter, Tomoyo plucked one of the candy bears off the display, and stated, “Aria, you practice scales and eat your bear while we get something...”

The pattern wasn’t even deliberate, Tomoyo being Aria's mother as if it had always been, her whole demeanour around the former spirit that of a parent with her favourite daughter, Sakura not noticing as she approached their target.

“How do you like working here?” Sakura asked, Sweet looking thoughtful as the question pattern began.

“I like it a lot...” Sweet replied, Sakura taking out a card, Sweet seeing her old self on the card flicker to her present self.

“OK, Ame, Just make sure you’re home after your shift ends...” Sakura stated, then the card flashed, and ‘Ame Kinomoto’ replaced ‘Sweet’ on the bottom of the card, and the image had changed permanently, “We have some things to discuss...”

A few hours later, The newly renamed Ame looked towards Sakura and Tomoyo. The latest vision they’d had between them was of Sakura in the kitchen, as Sweet put the finishing touches to a divine looking dessert for the meal Sakura had made, while Tomoyo was sat with Aria reading something to her. Sakura mentally frowned. Again, Aria and Tomoyo together in a cute moment that was perfect just being those two.

“Sakura, You are about to get a very big family, one who you will come to love individually as well as as a whole. Thankfully, not all of them will need to be home at the same time, having their own lives, like my job at the sweet shop,” Ame explained, “As you have guessed, When you meet one of us, you will be compelled to ask a question, which we will answer, and your reply will name us, as a person, not a card...”

“Like how Tomoyo asked Song if she liked singing Yoru no Uta, and told her to stop copying her like she sang a few years ago,” Sakura mused, “I then knew Aria’s name was, well, Aria.”

“And at that point, Aria gained a voice, since you saw no reason, unlike Clow, for one of your daughters to be a mute voice mimic,” Ame stated, almost wanting to say, ‘_Admittedly, she is Tomoyo’s daughter rather than your own...’_ but a quick shift in the magic of the cards, and Aria’s name briefly showed as ‘Kinomoto’, long enough for the card to be looked at and put away with the others.

“Can I test a theory?” Tomoyo asked, Ame looking curious but nodding, “Sakura, do you know why we’re getting visions so often right now?”

“Hmm...” Sakura stated, the Clow Book glowing as she stated, “Yumemi is restless, we need to get her to refind Nerumi or she might end up waking up...”

Sakura then paused. “Wait, How did I know those two names right there and then?” She asked. Ame knew why. _Tomoyo_ had asked, and had short-circuited the compulsion, by having Tomoyo ask about girls they’d not yet found.

“They’re pretty easy to figure out. Yume and Neru are words for Dream and Sleep,” Ame stated, “But you don’t call Song ‘Uta’ or ‘Utako’, or anything like that. She’s Aria, a synonym of Song.”

Ame didn't mention that it also stood out from the names of Sakura's daughters, being in English, rather than Japanese. Sakura took out the Clow Key, and they headed out, arriving in a lecture hall, where most of the people were asleep.

“Umm… Oh, Sorry, Sakura...” One of the girls who was watching the lecture stated, her voice having a mild droning quality, “But I so love lecture halls! They have so many people about to drop off!”

“Nerumi, You do not go round finding the most boring thing in the area just to watch people doze off! You left Yumemi alone!” Sakura snapped, Nerumi’s eyes going wide and she ran off. When she came back a short time later, a girl was draped over her shoulders, worrying part of Nerumi’s top with her mouth. Tomoyo slipped Yumemi off her back, carrying her as they headed for the house, a pair of earmuffs that had been sat round her neck slid back into place as she was put to bed.

“Yumemi cannot wake up fully. As far as we know, It would be… bad,” Ame offered, “Nerumi can be left to her own thing, but Yumemi...”

Sakura stroked the girl’s hair, sighing. “The classic situation with the entity that dreams the world...” Sakura sighed, “She can’t take the real world, so just dreams of what it’s like...”

“And we end up dreaming those beautiful dreams?” Tomoyo offered, Ame nodding, something about Tomoyo's words causing Yumemi's eyes to twitch.

“Pretty much. If you deviate from what she’s dreaming of...” Ame started, both of them shuddering. Ame then picked up her bag, heading for the door, “Now, I’m going back to work, You know what you need to do...”

They knew why they didn't have the vision. Right now, Yumemi was literally in the middle of it all, and she couldn't dream of herself...

Syaoran looked up as he was summoned.

“The situation which we had been expecting has begun...” The shadowed figure stated, “The Clow no longer resides in the cards. We cannot see what they look like now, but I need you to scry for them and bring the… spirits here...”

“Why?” Syaoran asked, “Why not seal them like during the original capturing?”

“It will not work. They have no name, no identity, right now...” The figure offered, “I will name them, and they will be sent to China for when Muzhiben Ying arrives,”

Syaoran didn’t like what he was hearing, but this was the head of the family, the eldest member. If they had come to see him, there was a problem.

Tomoyo ran into Yumemi’s bedroom when she snapped awake abruptly, screaming. She was speed-dialling Sakura as soon as she noticed her, wide eyed and breathing heavily.

“Sakura, get Nerumi. Yumemi just woke up!” She snapped, pulling the girl into a hug.

“Tomo-kaasan… Bad woman want to take us all away. Force the issue...” Yumemi blubbered. Sakura arrived as Yumemi calmed down, Nerumi looking very worried.

“Yumemi, Why are you awake?” Sakura asked, the young girl struggling, but managing to stand up.

“I… I can’t sleep, not with the nightmare I had...” She mumbled, her voice unsteady, transferred to Sakura's arms.

“Tell us about it...” Sakura stated.

“Mommy, I want you to go to the clock tower. There’s a new tour guide there. Ask her about the clock...” Yumemi stated, “Nerumi, tell me a story. Make it a nice one...”

Sakura looked puzzled, but headed out, Tomoyo following, Yumemi dozing off as Nerumi did her job. She put Nerumi to sleep, since that's what she did, put them to sleep.

The fact that the tour guide had brown hair and shared a few similarities to the other children told them what they needed to know.

“Hello, What can you tell me about the clock?” Sakura asked.

“About the clock?...” The girl asked, “Yumemi’s always mumbling about the clock, since she’s never seen where I stay...”

“Tomoyo, Will you go get Nerumi and Yumemi?” Sakura stated, Tomoyo getting out her phone.

“Nerumi, Is Yumemi sleeping?” Tomoyo asked, “That bad? I want you to bring her to the clock tower...”

A short time later, after Tomoyo had paid for the taxi with a minor apology for the fact, she looked towards the still unnamed tour guide.

“Can you show us what you meant earlier?” Tomoyo stated.

Yumemi snapped awake to the sound of ticking. Ticking that made her think of clocks. She liked clocks. She looked to see she was in a comfortable sleeping area at the top of...

“Come with me...” A familiar voice said, and she was guided onto a balcony. She looked out at the city.

“Jikan! Show me! Show me!” Yumemi declared, sing-song, “Show me what you see! I show Mummy the beautiful dreams, Show me the beautiful reality!”

Sakura looked confused, as the tour guide abruptly whipped out what was clearly her card.

“You remember what brought you to find Aria?” She stated, then they were abruptly in Sakura’s room, time frozen as the future Sakura looked at the smartphone in her hand, Sakura realising this was the last moment of her Dream, “You are doing well at averting this… But this is still possible,”

Sakura then realised what was going on. Time and Dream… This was a possible future. The Sakura who was sat there, her hair was in buns, her outfit showing clear chinese influences, and not many influences of Tomoyo. The card flicked, and they were in Tomoyo’s apartment during her dream. They went into the other room, to find a bedroom, with Aria sleeping in it, a twitch causing it to change, now being several bunk beds, with a large cushion, on which Nerumi was sat, Yumemi sat listening to her read in her bed.

“So, this is why you couldn’t see this room...” Sakura mused, “It doesn’t feel like it’s the final version, but it feels right...”

A gesture by Time, and the main room shifted slightly, gaining a second bed while the one that had been there moved a few feet to the side, Tomoyo noticing some of the papers had been moved and the older Tomoyo vanished.

“This is much more of a possibility...” Time stated, firmly.

“Why does she call you ‘Jikan’, Tokimi?” Sakura asked, sitting on one of the beds.

“It’s part of her chant to get me to do this...” the newly named Tokimi stated, “She dreams of the future, I see the real future,”

Sakura picked up the stack of sketches from Tomoyo’s work area, flicking through them.

“I notice the outfit from the other dream isn’t here...” Sakura mused, “Admittedly, She was very much Muzhiben Ying...”

She then handed Yumemi a picture, Time looking thoughtful, before Yumemi took out her card, and both the alternate Sakura and one in a much prettier outfit appeared, Tomoyo realising she’d picked her favourite out of the stack. Oh, she'd definitely make that at the earliest opportunity.

“This helps immensely, Mommy...” Yumemi stated, “Now, nasty chinese lady has plan to force Ying...”

She beckoned towards the ‘chinese’ Sakura. “She doesn’t want Mommy Sakura...” Yumemi stated, pointing to the other Sakura, “She only wants Muzhiben Ying, and all of us to wear nasty chinese outfits and learn Li clan style...”

“Sakura, Can you go into the other room for a minute? Tokimi, I need you to do something...” Tomoyo stated.

_Tomoyo looked up as she heard a knocking at the door, to see a heavily laden Sakura, dressed in one of the outfits she’d offered for her, pulling her in a hug as she apologized profusely for listening to Syaoran._

“_I could tell they weren’t listening to my suggestions. I packed up and came here as soon as I could...” Sakura stated._

“_Your home is my home, Sakura...” Tomoyo stated, “I even have a bed ready for you...”_

_Sakura smiled. Always thinking of her. That was too sweet..._

Tomoyo snapped a picture using her phone of the happy reunion, Tokimi smiling as the dream passed the moment they were in, as Aria was woken up, and Sakura hugged her and apologised for what she did to them both.

“A much better version of these events...” Tokimi agreed, “And I know why you didn’t let Sakura see them yet… She’s close, but I warn you of something...”

“What?” Tomoyo asked.

“Even with the warning, Sakura will fall right into their trap. I cannot see that day, but I know that, if you do the right thing at the right moment, There will be only one bed, and only you and Aria once more...” Tokimi stated, then they were back in the clock tower, Yumemi yawning.

“Nice dream, pretty dream, Mommy’s dream...” She mumbled, then began snoring.

That night, Tomoyo found herself having the same dream as she’d had that first day, but it ended very differently, as two beds quickly became one, and she woke up with a smile on her face. She then realised that, while the first time, Yumemi could have been referring to Sakura’s world or Tomoyo’s world, when she fell back asleep, she was specifically referring to that dream, _her_ dream. Where Sakura finally noticed what was there from the start, and they graduated as a couple. Her offhand comment, calling it a 'beautiful world' had created an interesting 'magic' between Tokimi and Yumemi.

Both of them were surprised that following morning when Yumemi came down and joined them for breakfast, Sakura having arrived ostensibly to check up on her, Ame drifting in and making some jam while her toast was doing.

“What’s Yumemi doing awake?” She asked, “Yumemi dreams...”

“Beauitful world, pretty world, Our world...” Yumemi stated, “I got my dream...”

“You have a dream?” Ame stated, “What was it?”

“Her and Ji… Ahem, Tokimi are more sisters than we’d like to admit. She’s always wanted to see Tokimi’s home, and now, she’s got to see the world as Tokimi sees it, and is no longer afraid of it...” Sakura stated.

“A song who sings her own songs, a dream who achieves her own dream...” Ame mused, “You really are changing the Clow...”

Eriol looked at Mizuki Kaho, who was cat-smiling.

“Dream was purely a sleeping spirit, who gave dreams, but never had them...” Mizuki stated, “Now, Yumemi is a young girl who aspires to do so many things she only dreamed of...”

“That’s now how Clow envisioned her...” Eriol stated, gruffly.

“Yes, but by granting one of her dreams, to see ‘the world’, she now enjoys the world through newly opened eyes...” Mizuki stated, “And would you rather she just sleeps her life away?”

“I like school!” Yumemi declared when she got back from her first day at school, Sakura smiling. She was getting to be more and more comfortable with the current way in which her life was moving. When she saw herself living with Tomoyo at her college, she found that she didn’t mind one bit, seeing Yumemi being the first to listen to Nerumi's bedtime stories every night. Tomoyo had even started work on the outfit she’d picked out from the stack of designs, since she clearly liked it.

Ruffling Yumemi’s hair, she headed towards the sweet shop, meeting with Ame, and getting Yumemi a candy Kero, before heading to Tokimi, who greeted them with a tip of her hat. Just helping Yumemi do all the things that most people took for granted was helping her immensely consider her options with other things. She noticed Syaoran lurking as she turned into the street heading towards Tomoyo’s house, which was becoming better known as the Kinomoto home, due to the fact the Clow were practically moving in.

“I know what you’re here about, and you can’t have her...” Sakura stated, Syaoran looking at her as he checked something.

“She’s a clow spirit, not some girl you send to junior school...” Syaoran stated, “Plus, she gives dreams, she doesn’t wander about like this...”

“What’s wrong with her having her own dreams, her own desires?” Sakura replied, “Like me and having a life not dictated by Li family tradition...”

“You have become rebellious...” Syaoran stated, his eyes narrowing, “I have been given a mission, and you will not stop me...”

Sakura got out her phone, tapping out a set of numbers, before snapping, “Seiko! I need you!”

Syaoran raised an eyebrow. “Seiko?” He asked, before hearing a police siren, as a police bike arrived.

“Ah right… The potential kidnapper...” The woman on the police bike stated, “My name is Kinomoto Seiko, and you are just asking for arrest...”

“Oh right, Libra...” He stated, his expression turning sour, “Also known as...”

“The Scales Of Justice...” Seiko confirmed. She gave him a brief look, before turning round on her bike, and heading off back to where she’d been, “Weird to see Yumemi like this, but things happen… I don’t need you to change anything, Just getting to dispense Justice instead of Justice being dispensed through my presence... It's so refreshing,”

Sakura smiled, and Yumemi looked towards the clock tower. "Jikan! Show me! Show me!"

A few moments later, she was watching Seiko as she arrived 'home' after a busy day on patrol, to slump in one of the chairs, while, in the other room, Ame, Aria and the others listened to one of Nerumi's stories. Yes, Seiko was older than most of the girls, almost being the same age as herself, but she was just as much part of the family...


End file.
